History of the Festival

We celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2018

A ten day literary celebration in Scotland's National Book Town

Wigtown is a traditional market town, set in the beautiful countryside
of Dumfries & Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is also Scotland's National Book Town, a designation that reflects its dozen or so
secondhand bookshops and annual literary festival.

The Festival

Founded in 1999, the 10-day Wigtown Book Festival is now one of the
UK's best-loved literary events and this year has more than 200 events
and activities for all ages, including music, theatre, food and visual
arts.

Awards

The festival, which has won a ScottishPower Foundation Award for
Community Engagement, Sunday Herald Scottish Culture Awards 2018 Cultural Event of the Year, Thistle Award for tourism, the Arts & Business
(Scotland) Community Award and a Creative Places Award, welcomes
writers from far and wide. It also celebrates the rich history and
landscape of Galloway.

About us

In 2007, Wigtown Book Festival became a charity.
It is run by a small professional staff assisted by more than 100
volunteers.

One of the best autumn festivals in the world.

The Telegraph

It may only have a population of 1000, but Wigtown doesn’t
just punch above its weight when it comes to attracting big-name authors
to its annual book festival, it punches above pretty much everybody
else’s weight, too.